Billy Graham was a long way from the hard right fundamentalists. For one thing, he seems to have been capable of learning.

If you look at his record, it is mixed, but he seems to have been independant and willing and able to stand against the right as well as the left. He was eucumenical (at least in later years) and was called an Antichrist by some fundies because of it.

He was quite anti-Communist, for example, but moderated his views after visiting the Soviet Union. He was unconcerned by segregation in early years but met MLK Jr. and came to support Civil Rights. He opposed the election of the Roman Catholic, JFK, but seems to have joined many Protestants in accepting him after his Separation of Church and State speech.

Also, he refused to join the Moral Majority (which was, of course, neither moral nor a majority) and said that Jesus did not have a political party.

He supported Republican and Democratic Presidents alike.

In short, he was more of an old school evangelical Protestant Christian than a Fundamentalist. Like many Evangelicals today he was much more inclusive and less judgmental and bigoted than true Fundamentalists and right wingers.

He said (Wikipedia):

I think that everybody that loves or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ. . . . [God] is calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they have been called by God. They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.

In short, he lacked many of the "biblical certainties" of Fundamentalists.

He may have been antisemitic (or perhaps not). He was once caught out with secret millions in accounts, which he justified by saying that if the public had known about the monies he would have been besieged by charities angling for it. This annoyed me greatly at the time.

He has been accused of having an enormous ego and love of publicity and fame (by President Truman, no less).

All in all he seems to have been a sincere evangelical and largely a good man with some flaws, perhaps even tragic flaws. He's been considered a bad man and a false Christian by many, but many of those critics and enemies are the sort of people you'd sooner have as enemies than as friends, so that is much of a muchness.

Personally I thought he was already dead, and that maybe this headline was about his son, Junior, but no, he's still alive. There's a picture of him with no ony MLK Jr., but Obama on Wikipedia. He retired but he isn't dead yet, at least no more so than Abe Vigoda.

SuperNinjaToad:WTF is wrong with farkers these days? while there are certainly a fair share of snake oil preachers and unrepentant TV evangelist, Billy Graham is certainly not one of them.Even if you have a deep hatred for all things Christianity a quick look at this man's life would show that he is actually a pretty decent guy who has done a great deal of good things for society in general.

brantgoose:Billy Graham was a long way from the hard right fundamentalists. For one thing, he seems to have been capable of learning.

If you look at his record, it is mixed, but he seems to have been independant and willing and able to stand against the right as well as the left. He was eucumenical (at least in later years) and was called an Antichrist by some fundies because of it.

He was quite anti-Communist, for example, but moderated his views after visiting the Soviet Union. He was unconcerned by segregation in early years but met MLK Jr. and came to support Civil Rights. He opposed the election of the Roman Catholic, JFK, but seems to have joined many Protestants in accepting him after his Separation of Church and State speech.

Also, he refused to join the Moral Majority (which was, of course, neither moral nor a majority) and said that Jesus did not have a political party.

He supported Republican and Democratic Presidents alike.

In short, he was more of an old school evangelical Protestant Christian than a Fundamentalist. Like many Evangelicals today he was much more inclusive and less judgmental and bigoted than true Fundamentalists and right wingers.

He said (Wikipedia):

I think that everybody that loves or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ. . . . [God] is calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they have been called by God. They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.

In short, he lacked many of the "biblical certainties" of Fundamentalists.

He may have been antisemitic (or perhaps not). He was once caught out with secret millions in accounts, which he justified by saying that i ...

WTFDYW:I see there is a generation of assholes here that know nothing about B.G., only what they remember about the hucksters of the 80's forward. I'm not religious AT ALL, but this man has not done any harm.

Really this. Sure he preached an idiotic religion but he was no Benny Hinn or Jimmy Swaggart.

I'm more concerned about the health of Pat Robertson. And by concerned I mean I'm hoping the Grim Reaper pays him a visit soon. And by health I mean mental health. And by Pat Robertson I mean...well, Pat Robertson. That old bastard will never die.

Billy Joel (who, amazingly, is still alive) said it best: "Only the good die young." It's why Pat and Dick Cheney are still around. GOD IS farkING WITH US NOW.

I used to have a great ad pinned to the bulletin board. Right after Oral said he needed $8MM in donations or God was going to call him home, a local pizza joint showed the owners holding a pizza and the bible saying that if they didn't sell a million pizzas God was going to call them home.

B.G. never pulled the shiat that O.R. and his ilk pulled off so successfully.

Fart_Machine:WTFDYW: I see there is a generation of assholes here that know nothing about B.G., only what they remember about the hucksters of the 80's forward. I'm not religious AT ALL, but this man has not done any harm.

I feel terrible when a noted anti-Semite dies too.

Billy Graham made some anti-semitic remarks during the Richard Nixon presidency and apologized for them many years ago.

Rev. Graham has been a man of God for many years and has never had a hint of scandal, abusing funds, etc. All you sad, bitter people can do is drag up a 40-year old incident in an attempt to degrade him. This is the third time today mentioning that so many atheists are bitter, spiteful and only enjoy schadenfreude.I recall saying, a few years ago, that Madalyn Murray O'Hair* got what she deserved and all these people got their panties in a knot yet you are ready to rejoice because one of the most influential men of our time is dying, someone you are not even familiar with. That is truly sad.

*Actually, when her son found Christ and became a pastor is the best thing that could have happened.

brantgoose:Billy Graham was a long way from the hard right fundamentalists. For one thing, he seems to have been capable of learning.

If you look at his record, it is mixed, but he seems to have been independant and willing and able to stand against the right as well as the left. He was eucumenical (at least in later years) and was called an Antichrist by some fundies because of it.

He was quite anti-Communist, for example, but moderated his views after visiting the Soviet Union. He was unconcerned by segregation in early years but met MLK Jr. and came to support Civil Rights. He opposed the election of the Roman Catholic, JFK, but seems to have joined many Protestants in accepting him after his Separation of Church and State speech.

Also, he refused to join the Moral Majority (which was, of course, neither moral nor a majority) and said that Jesus did not have a political party.

He supported Republican and Democratic Presidents alike.

In short, he was more of an old school evangelical Protestant Christian than a Fundamentalist. Like many Evangelicals today he was much more inclusive and less judgmental and bigoted than true Fundamentalists and right wingers.

He said (Wikipedia):

I think that everybody that loves or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ. . . . [God] is calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they have been called by God. They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.

In short, he lacked many of the "biblical certainties" of Fundamentalists.

He may have been antisemitic (or perhaps not). He was once caught out with secret millions in accounts, which he justified by saying that i ...

Thanks. I learned something today.

I have never really paid attention to him. I like the part about people not knowing the name of Jesus but knowing they need something they don't have. He isn't condemning anyone, which is saying a lot considering all we hear now is hell and damnation for thee who don't know Christ.

I used to have a great ad pinned to the bulletin board. Right after Oral said he needed $8MM in donations or God was going to call him home, a local pizza joint showed the owners holding a pizza and the bible saying that if they didn't sell a million pizzas God was going to call them home.

I just remember a shop owner in my town putting up a sign that said "so long, Oral!"

brantgoose:Billy Graham was a long way from the hard right fundamentalists. For one thing, he seems to have been capable of learning.

If you look at his record, it is mixed, but he seems to have been independant and willing and able to stand against the right as well as the left. He was eucumenical (at least in later years) and was called an Antichrist by some fundies because of it.

He was quite anti-Communist, for example, but moderated his views after visiting the Soviet Union. He was unconcerned by segregation in early years but met MLK Jr. and came to support Civil Rights. He opposed the election of the Roman Catholic, JFK, but seems to have joined many Protestants in accepting him after his Separation of Church and State speech.

Also, he refused to join the Moral Majority (which was, of course, neither moral nor a majority) and said that Jesus did not have a political party.

He supported Republican and Democratic Presidents alike.

In short, he was more of an old school evangelical Protestant Christian than a Fundamentalist. Like many Evangelicals today he was much more inclusive and less judgmental and bigoted than true Fundamentalists and right wingers.

He said (Wikipedia):

I think that everybody that loves or knows Christ, whether they are conscious of it or not, they are members of the body of Christ. . . . [God] is calling people out of the world for his name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they have been called by God. They may not know the name of Jesus but they know in their hearts that they need something they do not have, and they turn to the only light they have, and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in heaven.

In short, he lacked many of the "biblical certainties" of Fundamentalists.

He may have been antisemitic (or perhaps not). He was once caught out with secret millions in accounts, which he justified by saying that i ...

I used to have a great ad pinned to the bulletin board. Right after Oral said he needed $8MM in donations or God was going to call him home, a local pizza joint showed the owners holding a pizza and the bible saying that if they didn't sell a million pizzas God was going to call them home.

I just remember a shop owner in my town putting up a sign that said "so long, Oral!"

brantgoose:He's been considered a bad man and a false Christian by many, but many of those critics and enemies are the sort of people you'd sooner have as enemies than as friends, so that is much of a muchness.

Nobody that I have ever met who think/speak ill of BG (for various reasons), are anyone I'd prefer as enemies. I, contrarily, think incredibly highly of these people and respect them personally, and professionally.

Regardless of which version of Christianity you read, all are against using the name of the lord in vain, and certainly have stuff to say about using the word of god to con people out of their monies.

It might be tolerated in America, but money-grabbing evangelicalism is rather frowned upon by the rest of the world.

I used to have a great ad pinned to the bulletin board. Right after Oral said he needed $8MM in donations or God was going to call him home, a local pizza joint showed the owners holding a pizza and the bible saying that if they didn't sell a million pizzas God was going to call them home.

I just remember a shop owner in my town putting up a sign that said "so long, Oral!"

Glad to see some folks speak the truth about Graham. Not my cup of tea, as I hate the whole Christian Industry, but shouldn't be lumped in the same category as, say, this fetid turd, who can eat a Hefty-bag fully of decomposed goat cocks.

uttertosh:brantgoose: He's been considered a bad man and a false Christian by many, but many of those critics and enemies are the sort of people you'd sooner have as enemies than as friends, so that is much of a muchness.

Nobody that I have ever met who think/speak ill of BG (for various reasons), are anyone I'd prefer as enemies. I, contrarily, think incredibly highly of these people and respect them personally, and professionally.

Regardless of which version of Christianity you read, all are against using the name of the lord in vain, and certainly have stuff to say about using the word of god to con people out of their monies.

It might be tolerated in America, but money-grabbing evangelicalism is rather frowned upon by the rest of the world.

lewismarktwo: but this guy wasn't evil.

According to the bible, yes. Yes he was. Actually, so evil that his soul will burn.

Fart_Machine:WTFDYW: I see there is a generation of assholes here that know nothing about B.G., only what they remember about the hucksters of the 80's forward. I'm not religious AT ALL, but this man has not done any harm.

I feel terrible when a noted anti-Semite dies too.

yup, definitely a "noted anti-semite"...

"He also mentions an upcoming meeting with the interreligious affairs director of the American Jewish Committee, the late Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum. In 1977, the organization honored Graham, saying, according to Graham biographer William Martin, that "most of the progress of Protestant-Jewish relations over the past quarter century was due to Billy Graham."

mark my words, this thread is going to be a troll's paradise.

on an interesting side note, when I copied and pasted the section above from the article, the words "American Jewish Committee" would not paste into the Fark comment editor. Works fine if I paste it into notepad first to strip formatting but wouldn't paste directly from usatoday.com.

WTFDYW:I see there is a generation of assholes here that know nothing about B.G., only what they remember about the hucksters of the 80's forward. I'm not religious AT ALL, but this man has not done any harm.

SuperNinjaToad:WTF is wrong with farkers these days? while there are certainly a fair share of snake oil preachers and unrepentant TV evangelist, Billy Graham is certainly not one of them.Even if you have a deep hatred for all things Christianity a quick look at this man's life would show that he is actually a pretty decent guy who has done a great deal of good things for society in general.

Abe Vigoda's Ghost:Wow, never underestimate the hate that the tolerant left is capable of producing.

Because no one on the right has EVER wished bad things on a political opponent, right? I mean, Sarah Palin never put targets on Democrats, and Republicans never called anyone who didn't support the oil seizure war in Iraq terrorists, right? Right?

And the left IS tolerant. They haven't criminalized gross stupidity...yet.

WTFDYW:You seem to have been hit by the short bus if you cannot deal with other peoples faith, or lack thereof.

WTFDYW:Terrible trolling. Try to be more subtle as to not be too obvious.

I'm not trolling. I honestly want that miserable, fat fark to die like he deserves for his sins and crimes - alone and suffering. He has lived his life marginalizing, scapegoating, and oppressing others, while fleecing his followers and ripping off the desperate and hope-seeking.

And he is not representative of Christianity. So sod off, grasshopper.

hardinparamedic:WTFDYW: You seem to have been hit by the short bus if you cannot deal with other peoples faith, or lack thereof.

WTFDYW: Terrible trolling. Try to be more subtle as to not be too obvious.

I'm not trolling. I honestly want that miserable, fat fark to die like he deserves for his sins and crimes - alone and suffering. He has lived his life marginalizing, scapegoating, and oppressing others, while fleecing his followers and ripping off the desperate and hope-seeking.

And he is not representative of Christianity. So sod off, grasshopper.

How bout look in the mirror and post back when you find yourself squeeky clean. You cannot. Just like all the rest of us on here. YOU CAN SOD OFF.Better yet, go FARK off.

WTFDYW:How bout look in the mirror and post back when you find yourself squeeky clean. You cannot. Just like all the rest of us on here. YOU CAN SOD OFF.Better yet, go FARK off.

My life is awesome. I have a wonderful family, a job which makes a real difference in people's lives, and I don't scam them out of their life savings while convincing them that I'm the earthly word of Jesus Christ, and encouraging horrific acts out of people who are supposed to be "christ-like"

I used to have a great ad pinned to the bulletin board. Right after Oral said he needed $8MM in donations or God was going to call him home, a local pizza joint showed the owners holding a pizza and the bible saying that if they didn't sell a million pizzas God was going to call them home.

I just remember a shop owner in my town putting up a sign that said "so long, Oral!"